Germany's luxury automaker BMW posted a better-than-expected pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2017 on Thursday, driven by a rise in earnings from its Chinese joint venture and positive valuation effects.

The Munich-based automaker reported a pre-tax profit of 3 billion euros (3.23 billion U.S. dollars) for the first three months, surging 27 percent compared to the same period in 2016.

BMW's jump in profits was largely driven by a one-off revaluation of its stake in the mapping service HERE as well as higher profit from its operation in China.

Revenues climbed by 12.4 percent to 23.45 billion euros in the reporting period.

But its EBIT margin (profit/loss before financial result as a percentage of revenues) in the automotive segment -- a key indicator of profitability -- sank to 9.0 percent in the first quarter, compared to 9.4 percent a year ago.